According to AI (14 November 17) and Radio Free Asia (27 October 17), in the months preceding October 2017, authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) detained around 30 relatives of U.S.-based Uyghur rights advocate and former political prisoner Rebiya Kadeer, including sons Alim, Ablikim, and Kahar Abdureyim, likely in "political education centers," facilities authorities used throughout the XUAR beginning in 2017 to arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and others without charge. Alim's exact whereabouts remained unknown. According to Kadeer, authorities had detained her children, grandchildren, and more distant relatives in recent months. In 2006, authorities detained Kahar and Alim for "tax evasion," imposing a fine on Kahar and a 7-year sentence on Alim. In 2007, authorities sentenced Ablikim to 9 years in prison for "instigating and engaging in secessionist activities." Chinese authorities reportedly warned Kadeer upon her release from prison in March 2005 that her businesses and children would suffer the consequences if she spoke out about Uyghur human rights issues overseas. Chinese officials have exhibited a pattern of persecution and harassment against Kadeer's family in the XUAR since her release from prison and subsequent relocation to the U.S.